I don’t know that there is anything so iconic, literally and figuratively, as a stained glass window of the holy family. Unfortunately, working with stained glass is still on my “To Learn” list, and even if I could, they would have to be pretty small ornaments to not weigh the branches down to the ground.
Instead I reached back into my vault of craft experience and pulled out Gallery Glass. It’s a product that I had to work with years ago for a client, and I found it incredibly easy to use, and the finished product is so very lightweight that it’s perfect for a tree ornament.
Download this pattern I made for you. Click on the image to get to flickr, download it, and print it at the size of a full page.
Lay the pattern underneath a sheet of the gallery glass plastic and adhere with double sided tape.
Trace all the black lines with the gallery glass leading. I used the small sticky strips and cut them to size with an exacto knife, but you can also use the liquid leading.
Remove the pattern from the back to make sure the image looks the way you want it to. If you use the sticky strips, press down on everything thoroughly to make sure the liquid can’t seep underneath, and make sure your seams meet.
Then it’s just a matter of coloring in the lines. I found the colors to mix really easily, so you can get a variety of shades from just a couple of bottles of the gallery glass paint. How thick you apply the paint will effect how translucent the finished product is, so keep that in mind, and pop any air bubbles as you go because those will dry that way if you don’t.
I left my ornament to dry thoroughly overnight, then I used my exacto to cut the plastic to just slightly larger than the design. I used a hole punch in each corner to make room for a hanger, and a little gold ribbon threaded through to hang from.
This would be a great project to get your kids involved in. Once you finish all the leading, it’s just like those sun-catcher crafts you make at summer camp, only you can make it look like a lot more than rainbows and unicorns.
